ASB in the media

The ASB’s Jennifer Wadsworth, along with Charles Cockell, at the UK Centre for Astrobiology have found that the surface of Mars may be even less hospitable than previously thought. When they exposed perchlorates (common compounds on the Martian surface) to high levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation similar to the flux at the surface of Mars, they became bacteriocidal. This suggests that the surface of Mars would be even less suitable for life than previously thought. However, life may still find a home a few metres beneath the surface, where it would be shielded from UV radiation. The...

ASB’s Adam Stevens has recently recorded an interview with Charles Cockell, Professor of Astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh and one of the founders of the Astrobiology Society of Britain. In the interview Charles describes his personal journey into astrobiology research and shares advice for getting involved in the field. Link to...

ASB’s Zita Martins has recorded an interview about astrobiology for Vodafone Foundation Portugal’s Design The Future campaign. Design The Future is an online platform containing interviews from professionals in a variety of fields, which aims to raise awareness among Portugal’s young people of the range of professional career options that are open to them. Source: http://www.designthefuture.pt/discover_job.aspx?e=astrobiologa#bio...

On Wednesday 19th October the ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) successfully entered into orbit around Mars. There are many links between the ASB community and the ExoMars missions, either directly, or through related research into the possibility of life on Mars. So, it comes as no surprise that some of ASB’s committee members have been out on the media circuit recently, talking all about the Red Planet. This week’s Mars-themed episode of the BBC’s The Sky At Night featured ASB’s Louisa Preston and Manish Patel. Louisa talked about the Mars Utah Rover Field...

At the recent New Scientist Live Festival, ASB’s Zita Martins has been speaking astrobiology and the search for life in the Universe. On the opening day of the festival Zita joined astronaut Tim Peake and oceanographer Helen Czerski for BBC Radio 4’s Inside Science show – the full broadcast can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07vjx9d Additionally, Zita spoke to the Microbiology Society about the beginnings of life on earth, and the search for life elsewhere in the universe. Watch the full interview...

The Astrobiology Society of Britain’s resident Conversation columnist has been busy over the last few months. You can read all his recent articles for the site here. Highlights include ‘What makes one Earth-like planet more habitable than another?’ and ‘Impacts, extinctions and climate in the search for life elsewhere’.